The Mac platform boasts an abundance of free and low-cost software—some of it good, some of it great, and a good amount of it, well, understandably inexpensive. But thanks to the increasing popularity of the Mac platform, along with the convenience of the Mac App Store, it seems we’ve never had so many low-cost apps to choose from. Here at Macworld, we call the ones that give you great functionality for a low price Mac Gems.
We review a couple of these products each week here on the Mac Gems Weblog, but there’s just too much good stuff out there to cover at that rate. So once a year my fellow editors, along with a number of Macworld contributors, pitch in on a Gems-review marathon. The result is our annual summer Gems event.
Today is the start of this year’s event, GemFest 2012 (also known as the Summer of Gems). Starting today and continuing through mid-August, we’ll review a new Gem every weekday. As with the software we normally cover in Mac Gems, some of the programs will be delightfully simple, while others will be more complex. Some will be specialized, others programs everyone should find useful. Whatever the case may be, each product will earn the Mac Gems label.